Grease cup



Oct. 9, 1928. 1,686,801

J. F. cuLP GREASE CUP Filed Feb. 5, 1927 atroz nu,

.Y valve for grease cups which is. entirely Patented, oa.y 9, i928. y

UNIT-Eu STAT T oFF-ICE.1-

yorin F. Cuna Queriniana-Lema, ,P eNNsYLvAN'in, `iissrsnoa To IDEAL' Luiairrcfi'fror.y Y coivrrANY. OFKPHILADEYLIPHIA, PENNsrLvANIA,A A coRPoRArIoN oF DELAWARE.

GREASE *CUPL Y g -Appiicationfiied Februar-y The presentinventionrelates yto grease".

cups, and more` particularly to an improved grease -t'eeding means for proportioning .the -lovvvoi grease to giveasubstantiallyconstant vquantity feed. f. y -f f Some of the objects ofthe present inven- Vtion are to provide an limproved lgrease feeding meansfor grease cups; to provide an automatic grease flow proportioning device for grease cups; to provide. a vcontrol V`closed during lllingfoperations andis autoinatically opened forr 'feeding purposes;v to. provide means for gradually opening a discharge valve .ot'a greasel cupV4 to rvary the quantity discharged in accordance-With the.

r`pressure of the grease expellingmeans; to

provide a 'needle valve controlling mechanism for grease cups; and to provideA ot-herim-A rproveniente as will hereinatte'rfappear. Y

ln the accompanying drawings lFig. 1 rep-Y resents; a sectional elevationfo a grease cup embodying oneVY 'rorm ot the present inven-l tiem-Fig. 2representsasection on line 2-2 oit Fig. l; Fig. 3 represents a section on line '.3-3 of Fig-'1; Fi.g.4'repiesents afsectionr on a cup bodyjlOand nozzle'disoharge memberv line'll-/loffF ig. 1'; and Fig 5 represents a f a groove'36fis out in the side oi the 'stein 20 detail 'ot a modied i'forin'ot the invention."

'of example to a grease' cup of the type having 11 joined by threaded connection'toprovde a grease reservoir 12With a discharge outletl Y 13. Themember 11 is provided Wit-ha tappedy yinlet vlllafor attachmentv ot'.' a vsuitable fitting for i'illing .purposes under..l pressure.'V and a threaded partgl for inountingfthe cup upon A' the vpart' toAk be lubricated.

16 is slidably mounted Within the YcupflOand receives itsfejecting' movementv under the influence of aspiral coilV spring 17. As here shown, the plunger 16 is centrallyconnected to a tubular stem 20 which projects through v Forexfpelling the stored grease, a plunger` 5; 1927. serial N0.'1se,239

vfrom its seat onthe member'fll, the shank 23 is provided With a spiral groove 25which vreceives tivo, balls 26, the arrangement being i i Ysuch that When the balls 26 travel linearly to-Y vard the .outlet 13, they Will transmit-a turnf Y' ing movementtothe shank 23 and thus cause the thread 271tofeed the needle valve away r'from Athe outlet 13.`

I Y rl`hevballs26'are respectively heldin a cave formed by holes 28 in oppositer sides ot t 11e. stem 20and are pre# vented'lroin displacement by' :r bushing 30 ha'sa peripheral flange 33 againstfwhich the central part of the'piston 16 isy held bythe :which yis a part of 'one'ofthe piston clampf ing collars 31 and 32. The end ofthe stem 20 spring 17. The shank 234 extends upwardly yWithin the stein-20 and has a body34 to which; a v'cap A35 is vatt-ached and holds the handle21 inrplaoe.

In orderto 'permit lfree sliding movement;

ofthe stem 20 through the end ofthe cup 10 p While `*preventing :turningvof the stem 20,

parallehto'its axis and rseats a tongue-37 formed internally 'of a .collar '38.' At. a .con-j ment Witli-theliole 40Y` and thus revents the 'Collin-38 1frornturning:and ther holds the stem'f20 vagainst 'the' torquetransmitted .through the balls 26 and spiral groove 25. Whenthepiston 16 is to 'be-controlled manui allythe screw 41 is'removed from the hole` 40 and .sofallowsth'e stem 20to be turned by' y vthe handle 21.

VIn operation the needle valve 22 is brought down -to close the outlet 13 and lgrease is introduced .through the filling port l14 under pressurev to cause the piston l16 toy move up and place the spring 17 under com,-

pression. During this illing the lockscrew v 11 is out of the hole40 and consequently the out ellectng any change in the position of the needle valve 22. When the cup is illed the screw 41 is brought into the hole 40 to lock the collar 38 and stem 20 against rotation. With -105 balls 26 merely cause the stem 2O to turn with# the needle valve 22 is turned tov give a minimum opening to the outlet 13 the ypiston under its spring pressure causes the grease to feed out oi the chamber l2 and the quantity fed hears a direct ratio to the maximum spring pressure. As thepinion 16 is gradually yforced downto eject the grease the balls 26 act against the spiral 25 and cause the shank 23 to turn. This rotary movement of theshank 23 is transmitted to the needle valve thread 27 and because 'of the fixed bar 24,- feeds the valve 22 gradually away from the outlet liibut at a rate predeterininedly proporytioned to inaintain-v substantially the sameV quantity of grease floiv in a given time.

in the form oi' the invention shown in Fig. another means is rovided in lace of the rballs 26, to transmit movement of the stem f 2 0 tothe shank 23,such consisting of a pair oi" oppositely disposed pins 43 fixed to the stein vand projecting respectively into the spiral ygroove 25. In this construction, the

`iiioveinent of the stem 20 causes the pins 43 to ride in the groove and since the pins 43 are held against turning movementtheir action will be to rotatetheshanlr 23 and thereby feed-the needle valve 22 away from its seat i' on the outlet 13.

It will nov.7 be apparent that a complete unitary-grease feedingineans has been devised vwherein the grease is alivays under positive control both as to feeding pressure and as to quantity Jfed. Also When the feeding pressure is approaching its minimum, the' outlet for grease will be gradually approach:-

V ing its maximum, and.. in consequence the bearing to be lubricated Will receive the re- `quired amount of grease regardless of the decreasein .the operating pressure upon the grease. Furthermore, there is no Waste and no flooding of the bearingrwhen refilling the` cup becauseV the outlet 13 is entirely closed. v While only a single form is shown in WhichV this invention may VbeV embodied, it is to be understood thatthe invention is not limited to any specific construction, but might be applied to various forms Without departing from thespirit of the invention yor the scope olfthe appended claims, i

- Having lthus described my invention, I claim: i f

` l; The combination of a greasecup having a discharge outlet, an internally threaded memi. ber fixed in saidcup, a needle'va-lve threaded through said member and arranged to control said outlet, a spring pressed plunger for Vdischarging grease through said outlet, and

means operated by said` plunger for. turning said valve in said iix'edmember to eraduall L1 open said outlet. v

2. The coinbinationot a grease cup having a discharge outlet, anA internally threaded neii'ibeidlixed in. said cup, a needle valve threaded through said Vlined member'and arranged to control said outlet, a Shank attached to said needle valve and having a spiral groove thereima spring pressed plungi er tor discharging grease from said cup by Way of said outlet,fa tubular member encircling said shank, ball members carried by said tubular member and riding lin said` groove, and means to 'prevent rotation of said tubular stein.'

' 3. The combination of agrease cup having a discharge outlet, a valve threaded to move to open and close said outlet, a spring, pressed plunger for discharging grease from said cup vby ivay ollsaid outlet, and means including a rotatable part controlled by' said'plunger for providing-fa minimum opening of said vvalve When'the forcelof said. spring pressed plunger is a' maximum and a `maximum openpressed plunger is a minimum. .Y

oi' said valve when the force of saidspring 5. The combination ofa grease cup VhavingV .'a discharge outlet, a`needle valve l.cor'itrolling said outlet, a springpressed piston for discharging grease -irom said cup, a shank for said needle valve having a spiral groove therein, a pin riding in said groove and fixed `to said piston but -heldagainst rotation, land means to feed said needle valve to vary said outlet'as said shank is turned. i Y

Signed atPhiladelphia, county of .Phila- 4delphia, State of Pennsylvania', this 25th day 'of January, 1927.V Y i i n Jol-in euri. Y 

